Posts by Xanthippe

19

"Get Over It!"

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

this is what my children tell me... get over the whole jehovah's witness thing!

yes, they tell me they have gotten over the whole thing and they tell me that and i need to also.

my exgirl friend who was raised as a jw also has said the same thing.. my children say they got over it, however they are quick to point out how messed up their lives are now because of no college education and other missed opportunities.

Xanthippe

'Get over it!' does sound harsh. Especially if your kids still complain about what the religion has done to them.

Life isn't fair that's for sure, I guess I just want to even up the odds a little. I don't want this cult to take my whole life. The plus side is I now think for myself and refuse to listen to nonsense from anyone who doesn't have evidence. I won't get caught up in the ridiculous spending at this time of year because I see through advertising. I don't want to impress my friends or neighbours. After you've lost your entire family and all your friends you're over impressing people.

So the truth has set me free. Ha ha! Free from all the nonsense that keeps people on the hamster wheel. This isn't what the cult did for me though, it's what I've done by reflecting on my early life and not wanting to be a slave to any ideology ever again.

32

Johnson and the NHS

by jhine in

we brits are being bombarded with facts and speculation about the horrific consequences of either corbin or johnson getting into power .

another thread has discussed the anti-semitic leanings ( or not ) of corbin .

what do people think about the left's claims that boris would sell off the nhs ,only this morning l saw a post on fb saying that " america is demanding full access to nhs records " it has been pointed out by a political reporter on the bbc that the talks that the papers were leaked about happened before johnson became pm and these were just things that have been put on the negotiating table by the usa .

Xanthippe

US government and its powerful pharmaceutical industry want the NHS to pay more for their medicines which are much more expensive across the Atlantic. They want to remove the UK’s ability to block American drugs not deemed “value for money” and restrict our powers to allow cheaper alternatives to be prescribed to patients which save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

Jhine the reason this page jumped out at me is because in 2001 GlaxoSmithKline and other drug companies took the South African government to court to prevent it passing legislation to allow the government to import or manufacture cheaper versions of brand-name drugs to treat people with AIDS.

The South African government won the case. The government stood up for the people in SA but would trade agreements here with the USA seek to block our purchase of cheaper versions of drugs? This is something that large drug companies seek to do.

By the way this South African example is not something other election candidates have reminded us of, I remember it because I wrote to the Chief Executive of GSK at the time as a member of AI.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1285097.stm

27

Make Shunning A Hate Crime

by Lost in the fog in

the humanist organisation in the uk wants to protect non-religious people who leave their church/religion from being punished for doing so.

they want the religious hate crime legislation in the uk to be extended to people who are not religious.

i hope they will succeed.

Xanthippe

I can't understand people who say shunning in that religion is voluntary. Ray Franz was disfellowshipped for refusing to shun a friend, that was the official reason anyway.

Of course people will eventually find out if a JW keeps seeing disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives, the way these cultists spy on one another. I can remember people going on at me at the KH because they'd seen me going into town several times a week to buy fresh bread! I didn't see them, they didn't come over and speak! Weird people always trying to catch you out.

Surely if relatives have gone because of changed beliefs they are viewed as apostates and JWs are forbidden from association with them or be classed as apostates themselves.

I think when you've been out a while it's easy to forget that atmosphere of fear and always looking over you shoulder. Following the shunning rules to many is a life or death matter. If they get chucked out for not shunning their everlasting life is at risk, panda paradise gone!

32

Johnson and the NHS

by jhine in

we brits are being bombarded with facts and speculation about the horrific consequences of either corbin or johnson getting into power .

another thread has discussed the anti-semitic leanings ( or not ) of corbin .

what do people think about the left's claims that boris would sell off the nhs ,only this morning l saw a post on fb saying that " america is demanding full access to nhs records " it has been pointed out by a political reporter on the bbc that the talks that the papers were leaked about happened before johnson became pm and these were just things that have been put on the negotiating table by the usa .

Xanthippe

US government and its powerful pharmaceutical industry want the NHS to pay more for their medicines which are much more expensive across the Atlantic. They want to remove the UK’s ability to block American drugs not deemed “value for money” and restrict our powers to allow cheaper alternatives to be prescribed to patients which save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

According to research carried out for the programme, the cost to the UK government could run into the billions, approximately £27 billion, wiping out the potential Brexit bonus for the NHS promised by Boris Johnson.

From Channel 4 programme 'Dispatches', I'll try and post the link.

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/trumps-plan-nhs-channel-4-dispatches

27

Make Shunning A Hate Crime

by Lost in the fog in

the humanist organisation in the uk wants to protect non-religious people who leave their church/religion from being punished for doing so.

they want the religious hate crime legislation in the uk to be extended to people who are not religious.

i hope they will succeed.

Xanthippe

Shunning is not a crime.

No but inciting to hate is. Congregations in the UK have to be careful what they say about disfellowshipped people. It's my understanding that's why they changed the announcement from 'conduct unbecoming a Christian' to 'no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses'.

27

Make Shunning A Hate Crime

by Lost in the fog in

the humanist organisation in the uk wants to protect non-religious people who leave their church/religion from being punished for doing so.

they want the religious hate crime legislation in the uk to be extended to people who are not religious.

i hope they will succeed.

Xanthippe

'Humanists UK wants the definition of hate crime to be extended to people who are non-religious to ensure that laws forbidding religious hate crimes equally include those with non-religious beliefs.'

Interesting because I'm responsible for reporting a hate incident on the website if a library customer asks me to. You could feasibly report a JW for verbally abusing you in the street now because of your change of belief, especially if you've started attending a different church.

You can do it on the website or in a public library.

13

Heart warming words from my 13 year old granddaughter during our Thanksgiving dinner

by Still Totally ADD in

jw
friends

we had our first family thanksgiving gathering this last thursday with our youngest sons family.

before we started to eat we went around the table saying what we were thankful for.

what our granddaughter had to say brought tears to our eyes.

Xanthippe

Beautiful sentiment StillTotallyADD. Look how many you've saved from that cult!

Lovely photo Iown Mylife.

78

What The Fossils Say

by cofty in

the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.

Xanthippe

If I remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

Yes, that's the line I specifically remember. Just a few teeth and tiny bones. When my husband and I found books on fossils at the library we were shocked at the lies we'd been told.

19

I’m Really Digging The Queen!

by minimus in

jw
friends

at 95 , queen elizabeth is one sharp lady.

she lauded those people that helped break up a terrorist attack.

she didn’t take any crap from prince andrew and told him to take a hike.

Xanthippe

She works very hard and takes her duty very seriously. Princess Anne is another hard worker, she attended 447 UK engagements last year, more than the days in the year! Sounds exhausting.

Sophie, Edward's wife is patron of Childline which is a fantastic charity to give children who've been abused someone to call.

I didn't realise all this until I did a project on UK charities for an exhibition at work some years ago and found out the royal family are patrons of more than 2,000 charities.

20

What REALLY defines a person as being anti-Semitic?

by The Fall Guy in

does criticism or opposition to the israeli government's zionist agenda legitimately constitute someone being branded as an anti-semite?.

is it this definition which is actually being targetted at certain members of the labour party?

.

Xanthippe

Thanks Cofty. I will explore all of those. Speaking of bias, I'm not sure I would set great store by the words of a man's estranged wife but we shall see.